Good morning parents, this is Lynn Edward, Principal at the Alva School. This message is to advise you that today we confiscated an unloaded 9 mm handgun that was brought to school by a student.

At no time was the unloaded weapon used by this student or were other students endangered with it, but the presence of this item is a serious violation of our code of conduct and a criminal offense.

Discipline will proceed as outlined within student code of conduct and law enforcement will continue their investigation.

As you know, Alva is a great school of students who came to school today to do exactly what they were supposed to do – learn. I am especially proud today of the students that reported seeing the weapon to adults.

The incident I am advising you of is a result of the behavior a single individual which should not deflect attention away from the amazing things that happen in our school each day.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact a member of our leadership team.

Now that we're getting into the second half of August, it's the the time of year when we really start to monitor the far eastern Atlantic for budding tropical waves that could potentially develop into tropical storms or hurricanes.